Back to gallery

Orphans at the Diner

Some folks will tell you, the life of an Orphan is a hard knock life. An orphan goes to bed at night dreaming of food, glorious food but wakes to only gruel.

They will say, an orphan's life is full of drudgery and toil, that you have to keep a watchful eye on an orphan or they might just pick a pocket or two when you aren't looking.

 

I say, Annie and Oliver are wrong!

 

Just look at these well fed, well cared for orphans.

 

OK, film orphan references aside, my colleague has reminded me that not all of you know what an automotive orphan is.

 

The term, "orphan" when applied to a car or truck refers to the fact that the "parent" company, the company that produced the car, is defunct, deceased, no longer among the living.

 

The Pontiac that the Ricardo family are riding in, only gained orphan status a few years ago. Packard, Nash and Kaiser all became orphans in the 1950s.

 

"What about the Jeep? Jeep is still with us", you might ask. Jeeps are in a class by themselves. American Bantam and Willys were the parents of Jeeps. Both companies are long gone but Jeep has continued to be adopted by new parents. First AMC adopted the orphan, Willys. Then, Chrysler became the guardian of the brand. Then Daimler became Chrysler's Daddy. Now, Fiat steps up to the plate to claim Jeep parentage. When Chrysler dies in a couple of years, will today's Jeeps become orphans?

 

That is a question for tomorrow and tomorrow is only a day away.

 

 

This is a forced perspective photograph of 1/18 scale die-cast model cars (and one 1/1 scale car) in front of a real background.

 

 

1951 Kaiser, Henry J is by Sun Star

1953 Packard Clipper is by Packard Motor Cars, Detroit

1952 Nash Ambassador Airflyte is by Sun Star

1955 Pontiac - I love Lucy is by Sun Star

1955 Willys Jeep Station wagon is by Road Signature

 

 

 

27,161 views
409 faves
41 comments
Uploaded on September 18, 2020
Taken on September 17, 2020